How to Make a Presentation Interesting – Best Ideas

Do you want to make an interesting presentation? How to make a presentation interesting? How do you create an interesting presentation? How do you make a boring presentation interesting?

Meet the Author: Benjamin Ball

Ben is the founder of Benjamin Ball Associates and leads the presentation coaching and pitch deck creation teams. Formerly a corporate financier in the City of London, for 20+ years he’s helped businesses win with better pitches and presentations, particularly investor pitches. He is a regular speaker and a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and UCL London.  Follow Ben on LinkedIn or visit the contact page. 

Why Make an Interesting Presentation

If you talk about a dry topic in a dull manner, your audience will struggle to stay awake.

Instead, to be sure you have an interesting presentation, you need to make an impact and make your presentation memorable. This can feel intimidating: some topics don’t appear to offer much scope for drama. But you can apply simple presentation skills to add interest, whatever your subject.

Use Core Presentation Skills to Make a Boring Presentation Interesting

Making a presentation engaging involves more than simply sharing information. Instead you want to connect with your audience so they can feel your passion and know that this presentation will help them.

One of the best ways to achieve this is by talking directly about what is interesting to your audience. Avoid a standard presentation filled with text-heavy slides; instead, imagine your audience saying “So What” about everything you say.

And use plenty of personal pronouns (eg “You”). Better slides by themselves will never make you a better presenter. You need to learn essential presentation skills.

There are many ways to make a presentation interesting. These are some top tips from our coaches, who have been supporting businesses for 15 years to create compelling presentations:

How to Make a Presentation Interesting

Follow these steps below and you’ll be sure of creating fun presentations from now on:

1. Ditch the text heavy, number heavy slides

We’ve all been there: slides crammed with text, leaving the audience squinting and scrambling to take notes. Fight this information overload by embracing visual storytelling.

For example, we always delay creating any slides / visual aids until late in the process. Start instead by writing a brilliant script.

Instead of lengthy paragraphs, make your presentation interesting using powerful images, infographics, and videos to convey your message. Remember, a picture (or video) is truly worth a thousand words.

Even better, write a brilliant report that you circulate beforehand (ideally one side of A4) and then speak with no slides. It may sound radical, but it’s what all the best people do.

To make a presentation truly engaging, create a dynamic experience that grabs and holds your audience’s attention. A great way to do this is by using a mix of multimedia elements. PowerPoint slides, for example, shouldn’t just contain endless bullet points. Instead, try adding visual aids like images, video clips, or even sound effects where appropriate.

Steve Jobs is a great example of how to blend simplicity with impact—he used clean, visually appealing slides and kept each point clear and memorable. His presentations were designed to support his message rather than distract from it, which gave them a professional look that many presenters strive to emulate.

Remember, most leaders don’t do PowerPoint.

2. Include a compelling narrative

People are hardwired for stories.

So, ditch the lecture and transform what you want to say into a compelling narrative. This could involve highlighting a real-world case study, sharing a personal anecdote, or even framing your presentation as a problem-solution journey.

When you speak to your audience on an emotional level, you’ll make your message far more memorable. And the drier your subject – the more important this is. The real art is to turn a dry boring presentation into something interesting.

EXAMPLE
Before: “Sales are up 10% this quarter”
After: “Because of all your hard work, because of the new products we have launched and because our clients love our service, we have grown sales by 10% this quarter. Well done!”

3. Remember, “less is more”

Don’t overwhelm your audience. Instead, focus on the key takeaways you want them to remember. Imagine your audience asking throughout.

The Key takeaways are what you want your audience to remember and addresses are the topics your audience wants covered. If you can answer these two questions: ‘So What?’ ‘What’s in it for me?’ they will see your presentation as an interesting presentation.

Why Pick Benjamin Ball Associates for Your Coaching

At Benjamin Ball Associates, we’ve been coaching business people to improve their business communication skills for over 15 years.  Our coaching is fast and effective.  We work with individuals and with companies, one-to-one and in groups.  Call us today to learn more.

“I honestly thought it was the most valuable 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone in a long time.”

Mick May, CEO, Blue Sky

Our most popular training courses include:

• Presentation Coaching
• Public Speaking Coaching
• Investor Pitch Support and Coaching

Trusted by some of the most successful companies globally

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email info@benjaminball.com to transform your speeches, pitches and presentations.

Speak to an expert. Get a free consultation

4. Spark interaction, not inaction

Passive presentations are a recipe for audience boredom. To avoid this, you should incorporate interactive elements to keep your audience engaged. Audience participation is an effective way to keep people engaged. Rather than making your presentation a one-way lecture, think of ways to turn it into a conversation.

Interactive presentation ideas you can use include asking thought-provoking questions, conducting quick polls, or even having small group discussions. Remember, your goal is to create a dialogue, not a monologue. When your audience feels involved, they will feel that you are giving an interesting presentation

Here’s how you can do it:
Imagine you’re giving a presentation on workplace productivity. Instead of saying:
“Multitasking reduces efficiency by 40%.” (Fact-heavy, passive)

You could instead ask:
“Raise your hand if you’ve ever tried to multitask during a meeting—how did that go?” (Interactive, relatable)

Or, for much larger audience you can use a live tool like Mentimeter or Slido to poll your audience:
“On a scale of 1 to 5, how often do you think multitasking helps or hurts your productivity?”

This approach breaks the ice, keeps attention high, and makes your message more memorable because the audience feels involved.

Pro Tip: Even in virtual presentations, use chat reactions, emoji responses, or breakout rooms to maintain energy and interaction.

By sparking dialogue, you transform passive listeners into engaged contributors—making your presentation far more dynamic and impactful.

5. Use surprise

“Me talking to you about improving customer service is a complete waste of time… But any of us doing something that improves our customer service is time well spent.”

A surprising phrase will make your audience pay attention, as their expectations are jolted. The second line then mirrors and twists the first. The use of personal pronouns – me, you and us – keep the sentence active and involve your audience.

6. Use a set of three to add spice to your presentation

“Three unanswered calls; two unhappy customers; five wasted minutes hanging onto the phone. Would you accept that from BT? So why should anyone accept that from us?”

This uses a set of three – a powerful tool in spoken language – in the first sentence. Then it connects the issue to an experience we all recognise before tying it back to the task in hand.

7. Use stories

“This morning, Mary waited 20 rings for her call to be answered. When the phone was finally picked up by John, the CSR, he denied all knowledge of her case. He suggested she call back next week.”

Using a story structure creates the right frame of mind in your listeners. Stories convey a challenging perspective in a safe way, avoiding putting your audience on the defensive. Read about the seven ways stories can make your speeches and presentations more powerful here.

8. Use rhetorical questions

“What did you do today to improve your customers’ experience? And what could you have done? I want to show you three simple ideas that you can use every day to make your customers happier.”

Here, using two rhetorical questions prompts the audience to start to answer them in their heads. The second half shares up-front the benefits that listeners will get from continuing to pay attention.

9. Use rhyme 

“When the customer rings – hear them sing. When the customer moans, listen to them on the phone.”

Our brains love rhyme and rhythm, which is why we find it so easy to remember songs. If you include a rhyme you can help the audience recall the main takeaway of your talk or presentation.

10. Be yourself, and let your passion shine

There’s nothing more convincing than a speaker who is passionate about their topic. Don’t be afraid to inject your personality into your presentation and speak with genuine enthusiasm. Your passion will be contagious, and your audience will be more receptive to your message.

Body language and eye contact are also key to connecting with your audience. When you watch a TED Talk, for example, you can see how powerful these elements can be; presenters use confident body language and steady eye contact to build rapport and make their message resonate.

Similarly, the way you move, gesture, and react to audience cues can greatly influence how your message is received. For those new to this type of presentation, practising with a friend or colleague can help polish your delivery and make your whole presentation flow smoothly.

11. Bonus Tip: Practise, practise, practise!

The more comfortable you are with your material and delivery, the more confident and engaging you will appear to your audience. Learn how to practise your presentation like a professional.

Lastly, don’t forget to reinforce your key messages throughout. Summarise your main points and consider ending with a powerful takeaway to ensure your presentation has a lasting impact. A good presentation leaves the audience with something memorable, inspiring further thought or action well beyond the session.

Remember: it’s not about how much you say, but how much impact you make.

Each of these examples shows how small, easy-to-use presentation skills can transform a boring presentation into an interesting, engaging presentation. At first, it might feel odd to change the way you use language, but after a little practise these techniques will soon become part of your public speaking toolkit.

How to Make Your Presentations Interesting – Forever

We specialise in coaching executives to be brilliant presenters. We’ve been doing this for 15 years and are recognised as being brilliant at what we do. Our tailored public speaking coaching sessions are fast, intensive and effective

We can help you to communicate clearly, confidently and with impact, in time for your next talk or presentation.

Call Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email info@benjaminball.com to find out more.

Speak to an expert. Get a free consultation

Why Choose Us:
Transform your pitches and presentations with tailored coaching

We can help you present brilliantly. Thousands of people have benefitted from our tailored in-house coaching and advice – and we can help you too.

“I honestly thought it was the most valuable 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone in a long time.”

Mick May, CEO, Blue Sky

For 15+ years we’ve been the trusted choice for leading businesses and executives throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East. We’ll help you improve corporate presentations through presentation coaching, public speaking training and expert advice on pitching to investors.

Some recent clients

Unlock your full potential and take your presentations to the next level.

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email info@benjaminball.com to transform your speeches, pitches and presentations.

Speak to an expert. Get a free consultation

FAQ: How to Make a Presentation Interesting

Speak to an expert. Get a free consultation